By Sofia Urbina
It’s been eleven years since the fateful day that I wrote down my cousin’s email address to set up my Instagram behind my parent’s backs. Looking back on how I interacted with social media back then is not too different from how it is now; similar discussions, the same front-facing camera selfies, the compulsory brunch pictures, some things never changed. Well, all except for one thing: the digital economy.
From last night to this morning I documented my media consumption. This was not just exclusive to social media but also the television series I would put on between writing this blog and frivolously scrolling through my apps. Has social media completely altered my attention span? That’s a topic for another day. As usual, most of the content on Instagram was pretty standard for my following list. Companies posted branded content ranging from extended Black Friday deals to new holiday drops. In terms of influencers, I like to see them as brands too. They have an image to keep up as well, not just aesthetically but personally. As I click on their Instagram stories I can be guaranteed to find a hyperlink in a pretty font for a product. Companies with brand ambassadors will use influencers as a form of native advertising, in the sense that the influencer’s following works the same way as a big company like YouTube or the Daily News would. Although I am against the idea of micro trends because of their propensity to over-consumption, I do find myself influenced more often than not. I may not directly network through social media, but I practice hope labor when I interact with their articles or like one of their posts because that is the future I want for myself.
I tend to participate in ‘second screening’ a lot, I noticed how much I picked my phone up while watching an episode of Gilmore Girls. Not only was I consuming Netflix’s content where more of my data was being stored in their database, but I was also consuming disaggregated ads on Twitter for gym memberships and credit card companies. If you don’t know, Twitter, or X if you’re a contrarian, has two tabs on the “timeline” page. One is for the people you follow while the other is for both your followers and accounts that the algorithm believes you share similarities with. The key word here is “believes” as many users have complained about tweets showing up on their timelines with content they never interacted with and ideologies they do not possess. No, I don’t go to the gym nor do I need more credit cards. The same cannot be said about TikTok, yes it has its moments, but most of the time my For You Page is terrifyingly accurate. The New York Times found that the TikTok algorithm takes into account every move one makes on the app on top of using third-party databases to track users. Even with how alarming the idea of being watched is, I continue to go on the app and support the accounts I enjoy which then props up their profiles to a point where they can now make money off of TikTok. I don’t believe that I am adequately rewarded for my digital labour, but at the same time, I am also aware that I am not making the most out of it. Networking or ‘relational labour’ online can be just as prudent as in real life. If I got over my anxieties and used social media like Linkedin, then all of this might have been worth it.
Audience power is the driving force for most of the digital economy. Without us, brands and influencers would not have the capability to reach the audience levels that they need to be successful. Nowadays, striving to be an influencer is considered by some a legitimate career goal. There are no signs of the digital economy slowing down any time soon.